Salam,
In light of the recent hostage fiasco in Afghanistan, I thought I would express my 2 cents.
For those who are not aware, Taliban militants in Afghanistan kidnapped about 23 South Korean Christian aid workers (supposedly missionaries) by gunpoint and threatened to kill them unless South Korea agreed to a prisoner swap. Apparently, there are about 200 volunteers many of whom are engineers, doctors, and medical staff. They have instigated quite the uproar within the staunchly Muslim community in Afghanistan, especially after rumors spread about these volunteers proselytizing Christianity where they serve. As for the 23 hostages, majority of them female, one has already been killed yesterday.

When I read this in the news headlines, I was almost inclined to feel stoic in reaction. Not because I don't care, but because such news is too damn common, and American Muslims, for the most part, shy away from the public eye when it happens. Muslim terrorists. Islamic suicide bombers. Mujahideen bombs this. Taliban kidnaps that. You know which headline is my favorite of all time? American Muslims don't give a damn. Actually, I never heard such a headline, but it's been implied. And such an implication, I question- does it contain any truth?

In fact, the other day, I was having lunch with a few of my classmates, one of whom asked me "But what about you American Muslims? Why don't you say anything? Why don't you do anything about it?"

My response was garbled and a bit abstruse because the truth of the matter is, our Muslim community in America struggles with so many of its own problems and divisions (I heard this being used an excuse on several occasions), but I'm not too sure how that would justify our sidestepping any opportunity to public condemn acts perpetrated in the name of the Glorious One.

If we sincerely loved our Creator, we should stand up for Him. When we see our names slandered in the headlines; our religion depraved by equivocal politicians and crap-spouting bigots; harassed by trite misinterpretation, where are we to deprecate the wrong-doers, debunk the misconceptions, and support the oppressed truth?

There are, in fact, many Islamic activist organizations and exemplary Muslim individuals in America who are speaking loud and proud about their beloved religion and misconcieved identity, while codemning the acts of lunacy committed in the name of their sacred faith.

But besides public condemnations, what else are we supposed to be doing?

Is the Muslim voice debilitated? If so, by what? I'm not sure. But on the brighter side, there is evidently a gradual rise of Muslim presence in the limelight. (Check out Washington Post) Alhamdulilah.

Let there be among you a community who enjoin good and forbid evil; it is they that shall be successful [3:104]


My prayers go to the victims of injustice and ruthless oppression. God give the innocent strength against the evil-doers. Ameen.

Salam,

I am indulging in the final days of hedonistic pleasure- just one day away from training mayhem: nine hours/day of CPR-ing dummies excluding the extra hours in the ER and rescue squad- I'm pumped.

As I have mentioned in previous posts (old blog), the highlight of my days is reading away and engaging in quality sibling immaturity. In fact, I promised my buddy Rabia I would post about one particular incident last night, that clearly delineates my childish endeavors.

So my brother, sister, and I fight over a tub of softly-churned ohhh so creamy choco-vanilla icecream. When I say fight, I mean psuedo-karate tournament.

So in various schools of martial arts, one can verbalize commands. Like in tea kwon do, the instructor says "kyung yeh!" which means 'bow' or "kae sok!" which means 'continue'. Or in shotokan karate, which I have taken up, one would command "mokusuh!" and "mokusuh yame!" for respectively 'meditate' and 'stop meditating'. But some ig'nant people like to articulate their high punches or axe kicks with "bonzaaaiiiii" or "karaataayyyy CHOP".

Sigh. If only my sister had uttered something stupid like that before dropkicking my brother for the icecream scoop. Before I can grab the scoop from her and claim my victory over first dibs (I know how old I am, thank you), my sister flings her hands up in the air in ready-stance and screams out "KAARMAAA SUTRAAAA!".

My jaw drops, I recoil in alarm. Khalasssss, take the icecream!, I thought.

Apparently, she had no idea what she was saying; hence the inaccurate pronunciation. Like most 13/14-year old teeny boppers, she was being her naive-self.
I miss that (minus the Spice Girls/Giga-pet craze I went through from ages 10-12, which I deplore, ever so painfully. I mean, my circle of friends claimed a spice girl identity as her own. I remember Aisha being Sporty Spice, and I ended up being Scary Spice because Posh was too posh, baby was a ditz, ginger was a skank, and the halalest/least bimbotastic Spice girl left was Scary, who yes I know, is not so halal, afterall.

On a totally different note, there is much I have to say about a couple books I've been reading lately and other issues that overtook me this past week. Will post soon.

keep it halal,
scary spice

Salam,
Yesterday, I had spent a lot of time perusing through blogs and online journals (I must concede, I do enjoy this "free time" I have from productivity; surely it will not last long! This week, I start my night shifts at the rescue house; July 16- Day 1 of EMT training; and another several hours lent to a few ankle-biters that I'll be reading to at the local library. )

A friend of mine had recently posted a rather hortatory entry (like that word? hor-ta-tory-sounds kind of haram 8-O ) about collecting spare change and making use of it. I think it's a wonderful idea, and rather simple. It could work as easily as follows:

1. Make the intention of collecting any spare change in sight over a timed course and pledge to donate your accumulated wealth to a noble cause. My friend had suggested Darfur relief.

2. Insist that the members of your household get involved. Perhaps a jelly jar in the kitchen, shoebox in the family room, or a place(s) where compiling pennies from the floor and nickels from beneath the sofa cushions can be made convenient.

3. Maybe once a month or each new year, donate all that spare change to a local cause or somewhere as grand and in need of relief like the third-world.

We ask how anyone can make such a difference. But as my friend, Wafa, said in her blog, if we invited our friends and family to join us in this facile effort, then we can make a difference, especially if we all contributed to the same cause like Darfur.

For those of you considering this undemanding project, then may God give us the consistency and motivation to achieve our goal to ultimately fulfill one of our basic duties to Him- charity.